SMG Network FAQ

See below for answers to frequently asked laptop configuration questions.

FAQ Topics

What is the SMG Active Directory (AD) Network?
What network resources are available to students?
How can students obtain an SMG AD account?
What will configuring my laptop for SMG AD Network access allow me to do?
What if I choose not to configure my laptop for the SMG AD Network?

FAQ Answers

What is the SMG Active Directory (AD) Network?

The Microsoft Active Directory® comprises a network architecture adopted by Boston University in 2002. SMG was among the first BU schools to deploy this network technology. You will need a valid ACS account (BU email) in order to take advantage of the network resources at SMG.

What network resources are available to students?

File Storage and Sharing. With an SMG AD account you have access to several network directories

Your Home directory will have the (F:) letter designation. This is your private area on the network for file storage. You can save up to approximately 10 megabytes (MB) of file space to this location.
The (H:) drive is the Applications directory which stores programs that run off of the SMG Network.
The (Q:) drive is the Classnotes directory and contains files placed on the network by faculty and staff for communication with students. Students have read-only access to this directory.
The (S:) drive is the student Share directory to which all students taking SMG courses have read and write access. Any private or sensitive data should NEVER be written to this directory since all students can access these files. You can save up to 3 Mb of data files to this location.
Non-SMG students have access to the H, Q and S drives only.

Network Printing. Your SMG AD account allows you to print to the networked printers in the computer labs.

You will need an SMG AD account to take advantage of SMG network resources.

How can students obtain an SMG AD account?

In order to obtain an SMG AD account, you MUST have a valid ACS (BU email) account. The next step is to activate the SMG AD account and this can be done by going to:

http://www.bu.edu/computing/accounts/ad/smg

and completing the online pages. Again, you MUST have a valid ACS account first.

What will configuring my laptop for SMG AD access allow me to do?

Configuring your laptop for the SMG AD Network will allow you to access your network directories and print to the SMG network printers in the computer labs while in the SMG building.

What if I choose not to configure my laptop for the SMG AD Network?

You will still have basic networking functionality without it. Once you have configured your laptop for Internet connectivity, you are able to:

Browse the Internet, using Firefox or Internet Explorer.
Check your e-mail with a common email clients such as Outlook or Outlook Express or via BU Webmail.
Remotely access the SMG AD Network Drives. This can be done with any FTP software such as AbsoluteFTP. See User Guides for instructions.

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You can contact the ITS Helpdesk by emailing helpdesk@management.bu.edu
or calling 617-353-9858.